Ice chip producing machine



Oct. 3, 1961 G. H. WHETSTONE ICE CHIP PRODUCING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1960 IN VEN TOR duyHWfieZ isiane Oct. 3, 1961 G. H. WHETSTONE ICE CHIP PRODUCING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1960 JEF INVENTOR 6 Z5 Z0 7?, e

GuyHWfi BY 7 "F ATTORNEYS te States Filed Feb. 15, 1960, Ser. N 0. 8,760 Claims. (Cl. 62354) This invention relates to an ice chip producing machine of the general type in which ice. is continuously formed on the inner side of a cylinder wall and is. con tinuously fed upwardly and discharged from the cylinder by means of a driven auger within the latter;

One example of such a machineis found in U.S. Patent 2,597,515, issued May 20, 1952, to John M. Nitsch. In this machine, the augercontinuously feeds a: helical body of ice upwardly from the cylinder and whenever a sufliciently heavy length of the ice body has been so fed, the weight of said length causes it to ,topple and fall into'a receptacle, thereby breaking the ice. intochips.

Another example is found in US. Patent 2,753,694, issued July 10, 1956, to FayA. Trow and Marcus Nelson. In this machine, the. upwardly fed ice is. forced against a beveled block as it leaves the cylinder and this block breaks the ice. into chipswhich fall into a receptacle.

In both examples, the ice. is broken into chips after it leaves the cylinder and the chips have. no uniformity of size. It has been found, however, that better results, with the preponderance of chips of more uniform size, can be obtained by the. provision of. novel construction for continuously breaking the 'iceinto chips while the ice is within the cylinder and being upwardly fed by the auger.

One object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a machine of the general type set forth in which novel provision is made for breaking the ice into chips while the ice is within the cylinder and being upwardly fed by the auger.

Another object is to provide a novel construction for the auger to cause it to break up the ice in the desired manner.

A further object is to provide a novel construction in which the auger has a tapered portion which laterally deflects the ice chips discharged from the cylinder.

With the above and other objects in view that will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view partly in elevation showing an ice chip producing machine in which the improvements of the present invention are embodied;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section, partly in elevation, and partly broken away, showing the cylinder, the auger and elements associated therewith; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail section through a portion of the auger and the adjacent portion of the cylinder, for example, on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

The construction shown in the drawings will be rather specifically described but attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

A cabinet 5 is shown having an L-shaped compartment 6 in the vertical leg 7 of which an ice forming and chipping unit 8 is mounted. The cabinet 5 also includes a storage bin 9 which receives the chipped ice. A mechanical refrigeration system is employed for the unit 8, and the compressor 19 and condenser 11 of said system are housed within the horizontal leg 12 of the L-shaped compartment 6.

" atent Batented Oct. 3, 1961 The unit 8, a reductiongear drive 13 therefor, and an operating motor 14 for said drive 13 are mounted, on a fixed vertical frame 15 which includes a horizontal top plate 16 at the upper end of the compartment leg 7.

The plate 16 has an opening 17 (FIG. 2) in which the upper portion of a vertical freezing cylinder 18 is welded or otherwise secured. The. cylinder 18 projects upwardly from the plate 16 and is shown as having two discharge openings 19 for the. chipped ice. However, only one opening could be employed if desired. The end portion of the cylinder 18 above. the openings 19;, is closed by a screw cap 20 and contains a bushing 21. The lower endv of the cylinder 18 is alsov closed by a screw cap 22. and contains a bushing 23.. An upwardly facing thrust ring 24 and a seal ring 25, are. provided in the. cap 22.

A jacket 26 surrounds the cylinder 18 under the plate 16 to provide an expansion chamber 27 for the refrigerating system. This system is conventional and includes a refrigerating liquid conducting line 28 extending to the expansion chamber 2'7 from the condenser 11, a gasv line 29 extending from said expansion chamber to the compressor lit, a compressed gas line 30 extending from the comprcsseriil to the condenser 11, and suitable controls 31 and 32.

Water is, supplied to the interior of the cylinder 18 through a line 33 from a float valve 34 connected to.- a Water supply system, and said float valve prevents overflowing. of water from said cylinder during periods. in which the machine is not in use.

An auger 35 extends longitudinally within the freezing cylinder 18 and has a cylindrical lower end 36 resting on the thrust ring 24 and rotatably mounted in the lower bushing 23. The auger 35 also has a cylindrical upper end 37 rotatably mounted in the upper bushing 21. The drive shaft 38 of the auger 35 is at the lower end of the latter, is surrounded by the seal ring 25 and is coupled at 39 to the output shaft 49 of the reduction gear drive 13.

The auger 35 includes a helical flange 41 which extends from the cylindrical auger end portion 36 to the ice chip discharge openings 19, and the peripheral edge 42 of said helical flange 41 is in close proximity to the side wall of the cylinder 18. Ice continuously forms on this side wall while the machine is operating, and the helical auger flange 41 is of novel form, described below, to shear this ice from said Wall and break the ice into chips of preponderantly more or less uniform size for delivery through the openings 19. I

The front side of the helical flange 41, which is the upper side of said flange in the present disclosure, is formed with a shallow helical channel 43 which extends from end to end of said helical flange 41 and throughout the radial width of this flange. The bottom 44 of the channel 43 is transversely curved, preferably on a radius, and joins the peripheral edge 42 of the helical flange 41 at an acute angle, thus providing said helical flange with an acute-angular helical cutting edge 45 extending from end to end thereof.

During operation of the machine, ice is formed on the wall of the cylinder 18 and the cutting edge 45 of the helical augerflange 41 shears the ice from said wall and rolls it inwardly (see arrows 46 of FIG. 3), thereby breaking the ice into chips which are preponderantly of more or less uniform size although accompanied by some relatively small slivers and flakes. The disintegrated ice is fed upwardly by the auger flange 41, and to facilitate discharge of such ice through the openings 19, the auger 35 has a frusto-conical portion 47 between the upper end of the flange 41 and the upper end 37 of the auger.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel provision has been made for attaining the desired ends. Attenticn, however, is again invited to the possibility of making variations Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is: 1. In an ice chip machine, an elongated cylinder means,

means for introducing liquid onto the inner surface of v V V e 3,002,361

said feeding-and-chipping means comprising an auger extending from one of said bearing means toan intermediate portion of said cylinder, said cylinder including at least one lateral opening at the terminal end of said auger and spaced from said other bearing means, said feeding-and-chipping means including an uninterrupted frusto-conical portion diverging from said auger toward said other bearing means and disposed along said lateral opening for receiving chipped frozen liquid from said auger and casting it laterally through said opening, said auger including a continuous helical flange having a terininal cutting edge and extending axially along said cylinder from said one bearing means and terminating at said one lateral opening, said frusto-conical portion diverging from the root of said helical flange at said one lateral opening.

2. The structure of claim 1; said cylinder being vertically disposed, said one bearing means comprising an annular thrust ring secured in the lower end of said cylinder and a tubular bushing extending vertically from said thrust ring and circumjacent about the inner surface of said cylinder, said feeding-and-chipping means including a lower cylindrical portion disposed within said lower bushing and resting on said thrust ring.

3. The structure of claim 2; said other bearing means comprising an upper tubular bushing circumiacent to the inner surface of said cylinder at the upper end thereof, said feeding and chipping means including a cylindrical upper portion disposed in said upper bushing.

4. The structure of claim 3; said auger extending from said lower cylindrical portion to said frusto-conical portion. v

- 5. The structure of claim 4; said cylindricalportions of said feeding-and-chipping means being substantially equal in diameter to said cylinder, said auger comprising a. helical flange of uniform pitch and substantially equal to the diameter of said cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent Brockrnan June 17, 1958 

